


The Wrong Woman

by jedichick04



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Gen, alternate POV, missing moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 20:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4535760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedichick04/pseuds/jedichick04
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was a part of Oliver's plan. She was the Trojan horse. And she knew in her heart, no matter the nature of Oliver's true feelings for her, he would always come for her. Missing moments from 2x23.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wrong Woman

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Arrow Summer Rewatch Week Twelve challenge to write a missing moment from 2x23. Thank you to nikkibeckettcsm and mrsd923 for the inspiration!

Felicity was proud of her work as Oliver's executive assistant. She'd honestly done more of the CEO's job than Oliver had, in the end. But right now there was one thing from her time as EA she was regretting: killing the damn coffee machine. Because honestly, right now she would give anything for a hot cup of coffee. Her whole body ached from the car accident earlier. Her head was painfully throbbing periodically in a way that left her convinced she had a concussion. She honestly couldn't remember how long it had been since she slept. And odds were very high it would be a while before she'd get a  _chance_  to sleep, what with the raving madman and his army of indestructible convicts running around Starling.

She'd just texted Roy that they needed his help--they were going to need all hands on deck for this one--and while there was a sad lack of coffee, there was at least time to get her wayward strands of hair reigned back in. She glanced over at Oliver conversing with Sara and Nyssa, then carefully made her way through the glass scattered across the floor to the executive office bathroom.

She didn't start worrying until she saw her reflection in the mirror. The throbbing head wound looked  _bad_ , though as she leaned closer she couldn't see any deep cuts. That had to be a good thing, right? She tugged her hair out of her ponytail, then (carefully, particularly around her wound) regathered it into a fresh ponytail. She splashed some water on her face, and was just eyeing her wound again--was it better to leave it undisturbed, or should she try to clean it out at least?--when she heard Oliver call out her name. "Just a second," she responded, frowning at the tone of his voice. It had been almost...not desperate, but a little panicky sounding? Which didn't fit at all with Oliver, so she shook her head at the improbability of it all and dried off her face. As she stepped back out of the bathroom, her phone chimed. She pulled it out as she walked towards Oliver, showing him Roy's response. "He just needs a time and location."

Oliver didn't respond for a moment, his head moving slightly as his gaze tracked down Felicity's whole body. She felt oddly exposed. Whatever he'd been looking for, the moment passed and he reached for her phone. "It'll be easier if I just--" he started before Felicity passed him the phone. Oliver typed it in quickly before handing it back to her.

"Now what?" she asked the clearly agitated Oliver. "Do you want me back at the Foundry to see what I can monitor from there? I'm sure I can get enough of the systems working..."

Felicity saw Oliver's jaw twitch. "I'll give you a ride," he said, not exactly answering her question. But to be one hundred percent fair, he was more than a little preoccupied and stressed by the madman waging war on the city. 

"Okay," she replied. She took a step towards the crowded remnants of her old office, where a group of assassins was gathered ready to strike. "Lead the way."

* * *

It wasn't until Oliver was handing her the spare helmet from his Ducati that Felicity realized he was seriously asking her to take a ride on the back of the motorcycle.

"You want me to--" she started, gesturing between herself, the motorcycle, the helmet, and her head wound. 

Oliver had already put on his own helmet. "It's a lot faster than walking," he replied. Felicity still hadn't accepted the helmet, so instead she held still as Oliver gently deposited the helmet on her head, somehow managing to keep from jostling her wound. "And you are wearing pants," he added as he turned and hopped onto the bike.

Felicity eyed it for another moment, then gave in to the inevitable and climbed on behind Oliver. She realized about two seconds later that she was going to have no choice but wrap her arms around his waist and slide up  _right behind_  him. For all her fantasies and daydreams about Oliver, she hadn't actually expected to be put in this particular situation anytime soon-- _ever_.

Oliver started up the Ducati, and she was still sitting there, eyeing his waist. "Felicity?" he asked, raising his voice to be heard over the roar of the engine. "Hold on to me tight."

And as she slide her arms around his waist and scooted forward, pressed directly against his very muscular back, she would swear his tone sounded almost  _light_. Like he was deliberately using those words she'd made such a verbal blunder over last year just to remind her of...what, exactly, she didn't know. There was little time to really think about that, as once her arms were around his waist, Oliver kicked the bike into gear and off they went.

She hadn't thought she'd enjoy hurtling down the road at breakneck speeds on the back of a motorcycle, but turns out she  _was_  kind of enjoying it. If she ignored the throbbing headache and the smoke in the distance, it was... _nice_  to be pressed up against Oliver, feeling his muscles tighten as he guided the bike and moving with his body as he'd lean into turns. She entirely blamed that little drift into fantasy land for the reason it took her so long to notice they were heading in the opposite direction of the Glades and the Foundry--the opposite direction of the Giordano Tunnel, too. In fact, if she was right about where exactly they were going...

"Oliver?" She tried to shout over the roar of the engine and the road noise. "Where are you taking me?"

Oliver's response was to urge the bike a little faster. When they pulled up in front of the Queen mansion about fifteen minutes later, Felicity wasn't surprised. She was, however, confused. She followed his lead as they took off their helmets and got off the bike. She waited for Oliver to tell her what the hell was going on, but he just moved towards the front door. She stayed right at his heels, and finally snapped as she stepped through the door into the dark front hall of the mansion. "Oliver," she prompted again. "What are we doing here? The whole city is falling apart."

"I know," Oliver finally said as he guided her further inside the front entryway. What followed was a conversation that by all rights she should be allowed to process with a glass of her favorite wine. Maybe a shot or two of tequila. 

She didn't get either of those things. Oliver left her alone in the Queen mansion with a syringe loaded with the cure and a head full of questions.

* * *

She had a lot of time to think.

Oliver's words kept playing on a loop in her head.  _"He took the wrong woman." "I love you." "Do you understand?"_

No. She didn't understand. Because for a moment, she thought he'd been telling the truth. The slight tilt of his head, the tone of his voice, not to mention all of the weeks and months of touches and looks and hints of flirtation... There were moments she allowed herself to dream, to imagine what it would be like if all of those things meant Oliver felt something for her. He'd all but admitted after he slept with Isabel that he  _did_  feel something for Felicity. But love? Was it possible that Oliver Queen had fallen in love with her?

She'd let herself believe it for two seconds. She  _knew_  how he acted when he was lying; he never had been able to successfully lie to her before. So when he looked at her like that and told her that he loved her, she'd believed it.

And then she'd felt the press of the syringe in her hand, and it all came crashing back down to reality. He'd asked if she understood. And then he'd left.

Felicity knew she had a lot more immediate things to worry about--like the fact that there had to be some sort of video surveillance here planted by Slade Wilson, which meant he'd seen Oliver's Oscar worthy performance and would be sending someone to pick her up--but the idiotic man she'd somehow fallen in love with had just dumped that maybe fake but maybe not "I love you" on her and she'd take the time to psychoanalyze it if she wanted to.

She found herself wandering around the first few empty rooms of the house, too anxious to stay in one place. The house was empty of the opulent furniture that had been in place the last time she'd been in the home--for Moira's funeral reception. Felicity found herself imagining Oliver here as a child. There was lots of nooks and crannies that would make for great hide and seek games. Did he ever get to use the house for that? Or was that sort of behavior frowned upon for the heir to the family fortune? If that was the case--no wonder Oliver had acted like a kid when he was in his early twenties. Though maybe he'd been able to play those sorts of games with his younger sister. Felicity found herself hoping the younger Queen really had made it out of Starling before Slade's men started their attacks. 

Slade's men. The men she was waiting for to come and take her, because Oliver had given her the cure and dangled her as bait for Slade. Was it really necessary for Oliver to add the "I love you" to his whole little speech? He'd already said that Laurel was the wrong woman, that Felicity was the woman he loved. Was Oliver just trying to be particularly convincing in his ruse by adding the I love you? Or was that something meant for her?

Sometimes she really hated her analytical brain.

She didn't have much longer to wait alone with her thoughts. When Slade's men came, they came loudly through the front door. She stood her ground, letting them roughly drag her off, but never cowering. She was a part of Oliver's plan. She was the Trojan horse. And she knew in her heart, no matter the nature of Oliver's true feelings for her, he would always come for her. There was no reason to fear.

* * *

"Are you okay?"

The adrenaline was pumping through her blood really, really hard right now, better than any caffeine, and she was almost shaking from it. Her head was still throbbing. And if she went a thousand lifetimes without having a sword pressed up to her throat ever again, it would be too soon.

But for all that, Felicity found herself nodding at Sara's question. "He didn't hurt me," she said, taking a shaky breath. She glanced over her shoulder to the warehouse, the one Sara had rushed both Laurel and Felicity out of moments ago. "Do you think Oliver--?"

"You evened the playing field," Sara told Felicity. "You did a great job. I think Oliver has a good chance." She paused on her way over to her sister and added, "That was a solid maneuver to get away from Slade. If you ever want a few more pointers..."

"I might take you up on that...someday," Felicity said, finding a smile. "But I'm not planning on a vacation to Nanda Parbat anytime soon."

Sara answered with a smile of her own. "Next time I'm in Starling, then." She made her way to her sister, checking on her and having a conversation Felicity couldn't hear. She didn't want to. She had turned her full attention to the warehouse, waiting and hoping that Oliver would emerge safe and sound.

He finally did, about ten minutes later. "ARGUS is on the way," Oliver said as he limped up to the three women, favoring his bad knee. "Digg and Lyla talked Waller down. And ARGUS liked my idea of where to incarcerate Slade. They're making arrangements now."

"You didn't kill him?" Sara asked sharply. 

When Oliver shook his head, Felicity couldn't help herself. She took two steps forward and wrapped her arms around Oliver's neck. She felt his arms come around her a moment later, and she took her first deep breath since all of this had started. "See?" she murmured. "You did have a choice."

She almost didn't catch his reply as she went to pull away. "Thanks to you."

Felicity beamed up at him, finding his arm and lightly squeezing it. They might have said more, but when ARGUS said they were on the way, they  _really_  meant it--suddenly there were helicopters and trucks and a whole lot of people, including Diggle and Lyla. Oliver went to direct them to Slade, while Felicity stayed back with Diggle--who was not exactly happy when he heard just went had gone down. Felicity had a strong feeling Oliver would be getting an earful later, and she didn't object when Digg told her he wanted to brush up on her self defense training. 

Hopefully things would calm down now that Slade had been captured. Felicity knew that she had to talk to Oliver about what he'd said, knew there were lots of conversations to be had in the days to come, but right now, it was enough that they had won this battle, and they'd all come through it unscathed. That was the best kind of victory in her book.


End file.
